Is the real road bike dead

[GaryvdM]

This comfort thing on a steel frame that some eludes to... what is that?

 

Carbon, Steel, Alu all feels the same to me, as does 23mm vs 25mm. Perhaps I should put 28mm on the Ritchey to see.

 

Just checking, are you dropping the tire pressure when going to wider tires?

[Grease_Monkey]

nostalgia is a strange thing...

 

marginal changes over a single lifetime seem to make us think back of the "good old days" and how "tough" we were, but then if you look at it a bit different, you'll soon realize that those "good old days" just aren't as good or special as they seemed.

 

the same way that you perceive disc brakes, 25mm tyres and 30t cassettes to be a sign of the world becoming soft and the "death" of a sport once mastered only by the tough and the brave, the same argument was probably made by those who lived through 1887 when pneumatic tyres were first invented. or in 1905 when the rear derailleur made its first appearance and since then when synthetic clothes, gloves, leg warmers and shoe covers came along...

 

so in short: everyone of us is a complete softie by the standards of the 1886 hardmen that rode penny farthings in the european winter without gears, pneumatic tyres, helmets or warm clothing.

 

if riding a disc bike that happens to be more comfortable, has better brakes, more adequate gearing AND is significantly faster than my first 12kg narrow tyred steel machine with down-tube shifters makes me a softie, then I'm perfectly fine with that... I'll go out on a cold morning just to "keep it real", but no thanks, I won't change my bike

 

side note: our roads have become so much shyter, that the new "comfortable" tech has basically just leveled the playing field

Spot on man! And I'm willing to bet that those guys that rode the penny farthings back in the day would have taken the new bikes of today if given the choice.

 

There was a movie made a while back in which Owen Wilson acts. A guy who wants to live 'back in the day' time travels and goes back to before phones were invented and everyone still wrote letters only to realise that there was nothing special about all that stuff - it was just the newest tech of the time.

 

Sure, there is a place for nostalgia, I will always pine after a '68 Mustang, but I'm not gonna replace my modern car with it.

[Grease_Monkey]

This comfort thing on a steel frame that some eludes to... what is that?

 

Carbon, Steel, Alu all feels the same to me, as does 23mm vs 25mm. Perhaps I should put 28mm on the Ritchey to see.

 

 

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Steel is hands down more comfy than any other material when it comes to frames. I'm not gonna build a full suspension mtb with it - but ride a quality steel hardtail mtb, and then straight after that a carbon hardtail mtb and I can promise you that you will feel the difference very quickly...

 

Steel absobs alot of the vibration from the trail where carbon transfers all of that to your spine.

 

The same with wider tyres - but, only if you drop the pressure. A 28mm tyre will feel the same as 23mm tyre when ridden at 9 bar.

[LeoKnight]

nostalgia is a strange thing...

 

if riding a disc bike that happens to be more comfortable, has better brakes, more adequate gearing AND is significantly faster than my first 12kg narrow tyred steel machine with down-tube shifters makes me a softie, then I'm perfectly fine with that...  I'll go out on a cold morning just to "keep it real", but no thanks, I won't change my bike

 

side note:  our roads have become so much shyter, that the new "comfortable" tech has basically just leveled the playing field

 

Think you just better summed up what I was trying to say... Its all relative, what one person determines the "standard" for a real bike, someone else will see it as modern or retro

[Eldron]

Steel absobs alot of the vibration from the trail where carbon transfers all of that to your spine.

 

 

I need to pull out my metallurgy textbooks but I think you have it arse about face. Steel is more homogeneous than carbon so it absorbs LESS vibration.

 

Steel is fun to ride because it is thin gauge and floppy as hell. That floppy as hell characteristic is what makes steel feel "magical".

[Grease_Monkey]

I need to pull out my metallurgy textbooks but I think you have it arse about face. Steel is more homogeneous than carbon so it absorbs LESS vibration.

 

Steel is fun to ride because it is thin gauge and floppy as hell. That floppy as hell characteristic is what makes steel feel "magical".

I may well have it wrong wrt the absorption of vibration. But... I do know that when riding my steel hardtail my spine feels alot less shaken up and destroyed when compared to an alu or carbon hardtail.

[J∆kk∆ls]

You can have the most pimped up carbon, dual sus, fat tyred, 1xwhatever drivetrain with a dropper post and super wide riser bars. If it is on the road, it is a road bike! 

[Eldron]

I may well have it wrong wrt the absorption of vibration. But... I do know that when riding my steel hardtail my spine feels alot less shaken up and destroyed when compared to an alu or carbon hardtail.

 

For sure. I love my steel hardtails. 

 

Look down when you pedal - on the steel bike the BB sways around like a drunk sailor - that is what is keeping your spine happy :-)

 

Carbon bikes (depending on their design) and alu bikes will have less sway (and less spine saving).

[Grease_Monkey]

For sure. I love my steel hardtails.

 

Look down when you pedal - on the steel bike the BB sways around like a drunk sailor - that is what is keeping your spine happy :-)

 

Carbon bikes (depending on their design) and alu bikes will have less sway (and less spine saving).

I knew the bit about flex and sway... just extrapolated that to absorbing more impact for some reason. But hey - that's why I dropped out of engineering after a year haha

[lechatnoir]

For sure. I love my steel hardtails. 

 

Look down when you pedal - on the steel bike the BB sways around like a drunk sailor - that is what is keeping your spine happy :-)

 

Carbon bikes (depending on their design) and alu bikes will have less sway (and less spine saving).

 

My BB doesn't sway, but my seatpost looks like this...

[Eldron]

I knew the bit about flex and sway... just extrapolated that to absorbing more impact for some reason. But hey - that's why I dropped out of engineering after a year haha

Oddly enough bicycle materials is what made me study metallurgy! I was looking to study when Alan brought out their alu bikes and not long after Giant made the bonded carbon CADEX frames.

[Eldron]

My BB doesn't sway, but my seatpost looks like this...

That is a cool design!

 

Gotta love engineering. The material stereotypes are true until you bring in the designers. After that all bets are off :-)

[Kranswurm]

For sure. I love my steel hardtails. 

 

Look down when you pedal - on the steel bike the BB sways around like a drunk sailor - that is what is keeping your spine happy :-)

 

Carbon bikes (depending on their design) and alu bikes will have less sway (and less spine saving).

I was buying a new bike in 87

I tested a steel Colnago at Alan van Heerden then tried one of the new Cannondales at my friend Bernie at Soloped.Chalk and cheese.The Alu won.Alan was mortified.

[Eldron]

I was buying a new bike in 87

I tested a steel Colnago at Alan van Heerden then tried one of the new Cannondales at my friend Bernie at Soloped.Chalk and cheese.The Alu won.Alan was mortified.

Daaaamn. Tboae early CAAD frames were proper ball breakers!

[Kranswurm]

Daaaamn. Tboae early CAAD frames were proper ball breakers!

Brilliant when the road went up

[Frosty]

Just checking, are you dropping the tire pressure when going to wider tires?

Yes, just below 6-bar on the rear and about 5-bar up front. When racing, I up them to 8/7.

 

In case anyone wonders why the difference... the rear wheel carries a slightly higher load than the front.

 

Bike + Me / 2, then split 55/45% based on the weight on each wheel. I found this graph on the road.cc website earlier in the year.

 

 

 

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